The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Mott Weekly Press Conference
9/11/2017 | Soccer
Ole Miss Soccer Head Coach Matthew Mott met with members of the media on Monday as part of his weekly press conference. Coach Mott recapped road victories over Tulsa and Memphis, and previewed this week's SEC opener at Florida (Thursday, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT, SEC Network), & a non-conference tilt at Stetson (Sunday, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT).
Opening Statement...
"Congratulations to Coach (Steven) McRoberts and volleyball on their big win and certainly to Coach (Matt) Luke on their 2-0 start. We had another very good weekend winning the Memphis Invitational Tournament with a win on Friday night against Tulsa. A good team out of the AAC who we beat 4-0. We really got on them early and scored some good goals. We were up 4-0 at halftime, so we were able to rest a bunch of guys knowing that we had the big game on Sunday night. Memphis beat Rice on Friday night 3-1, so it set up a really good match for last night. It was a great Memphis, Ole Miss soccer match. It was the derby and the team that is closest to us as a big rivalry out of conference. They are always very good in soccer as they are ranked nationally. Channing Foster scored an absolute laser from about 35-yards out with about a minute to go in the first half to get us to halftime with a 1-0 lead and our defense took over. We have been scoring a ton, but the defense has really not had a lot to do and last night they were tested by a very good Memphis team that has scored a ton of goals this year. Keeping them off the board was huge and Marnie Merritt was excellent in goal. Grace and Ella Johnson, Sophie (Dineen), Liza Harbin, and Chanel Thomas were great. I'm really happy with the total team defending. Bella Fiorenzo is our mid and did a fantastic job in there against a national team player for Canada who plays for Memphis. Really happy with the group and going to keep moving along here. We are 7-0-1 and have one non-conference game left with Stetson Sunday and then its all conference. We start off with Florida right now scheduled for Thursday on the SEC Network down in Gainesville, but we are waiting to see how the hurricane has effected them and if there will be any changes to the schedule, but for right now we are preparing for Florida on Thursday night."
On if he anticipated the success they have had early on...
"I don't know if I saw this team jelling this soon. They really have jelled together and Channing is leading the conference with nine (goals) and CeCe (Kizer) is right behind her with eight (goals). Those guys are really dangerous. We are playing Mary Kate Smith upfront and Alley Houghton and Molly Martin and Gabby are all getting minutes and all producing. We are a tough team coming off the bench/ We bring a ton of speed when we sub and that's been hard for teams. This is the deepest team I have ever had and one of the best backlines we have ever had. When you couple that with Marnie (Merritt), it makes it easier for the attackers for sure. The goal las night was straight off a counter-attack, we won a ball who got it to CeCe (Kizer), who got it to Channing (Foster) who made a great strike. This team has ability and feels good about scoring. They want to score and just go at it."
On the amount they have been scoring...
"I don't think we are going to score eight goals against anyone, but we are going to continue to attack for sure. This team has definitely shown we can score. We scored on Michigan and scored on Memphis, those two teams are nationally ranked. I think we can score, not to the level that we have been scoring, but there are goals out there we can get for sure."
On hosting Florida State Soccer during the hurricane...
"Friday we were on our way to the Memphis tournament and the coaches for Florida State called me and said they had to evacuate. One of the places they mentioned was Oxford, so they asked if we would be willing to host them. Their head coach is a really good friend of mine, they are a great program and we have a lot of respect for them, so I said of course, come on up, whatever you need. We are away all weekend so it is convenient for them to be able to use the field to train and anything they need. He was really impressed with the Gillom Center. They used the whole facility: the training room, video room, the weight room and we are just really fortunate to be willing to host them with no problem. Another thing they mentioned to us was the hospitality of the people and the town, so certainly we are happy to do that for them. It is a tough situation for them. They are in the ACC and their league is not stopping so they had to come somewhere they could train and play. They were worried they weren't going to have power and their school is closed the whole week. They are not sure how long they are here for, but we have certainly been very welcoming and happy they are here."
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss Soccer on Twitter at @OleMissSoccer, on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissSoccer, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemisssoccer. Also follow head coach Matt Mott on Twitter at @CoachMattMott. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
